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Re: Cooling

To: Harold Hartsell <hartsell@tcsn.net>
Subject: Re: Cooling
From: johnc@nait.ab.ca
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 12:10:13 -0600
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Here  is  an article I wrote on cooling a while back. Much of this info has
been  posted  before  and  it  is  long so press delete if you get tired of
reading.

Since  cooling  is always a problem I have spent some time asking questions
of all who could give advice on the Tiger's eternal problem of over heating

To D.C. who has had more sports cars with overheating problems than any one
I have ever met. He has become our Club expert on over heating

Q.   What  is  the  "Magic  Bullet" that I can bolt on and cure all my over
    heating problems?

A.   There  is  no  such  thing.  The  war on over heating is won little by
    little, one degree at time.

To the College Automotive Department Head:

Q.   Why  do  our  engines over heat after rebuilding and an overbore of 30
    thou +?

A.   The  closer the kettle is to the fire, the sooner the water will boil.
    If you overbore you need to cool more.

    New engines are tight. Tight is hot. Break 'em in at night.

To the Physics department:

Q.  What fan blade works the best?

A.   Try  an  asymmetrical  fan.  Symmetrical  fan  blades  set up a vortex
    (whirlpool of air) that is relatively stable. They move lots of air but
    they tend to draw the air from only one spot just like the whirlpool of
    water  when you drain your bathtub. An asymmetrical fan tends to set up
    an  unstable  vortex  that  moves around, drawing air from all over the
    rad. The whirlpool of air from the symmetrical fan will be noisier too,
    just  like  a cyclone. The unstable vortex from a asymmetrical fan will
    not howl as the whirl pool is continually being changed.

TIP:  Try  a  140 series Volvo 5 blade, it bolts up to the Tiger engine and
     requires  no  trimming. I have one on my car and it works great. I got
     it  for  $3.00 at "Pick-Your-Part". Get the Volvo aluminum spacer. You
     will have to have it turned down but it fits.

Q.  What do you consider the single greatest cause of over heating?

A.   Rads  that  are  plugged.  Excess  silicon,  (widely  used  in  engine
    rebuilding)  tends  to flake off in specs and block of the veins in the
    rad.  If  a  rad has 20 veins and you lose only 4 you loose 20% of your
    cooling. If it worked proportionally 190
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=B0 + 20% =3D 228=B0.

TIP: Pull the rad and have it boiled. Flushing does nothing.

To an old time Rad man: who "fixes and doesn't just replace "

Q.  What else can cause over heating?

A.   Stoppage  of  air flow. Bent fins in the rad. If only one or two s=
mall
    areas are blocked from air flow the result can be one or two degree=
s of
    over  heating.  (Remember  how we win this war - one degree at a ti=
me).
    Get a small thin screwdriver and straighten every fin. Don't forget=
 the
    back  side.  Even  a brand new core can have some damaged fins. Rad=
 men
    now-a-days don't like to take the time to do this but it helps.

    Also  . . . An old rad can have much of the air flow stopped by bit=
s of
    sand  stuck in the fins. This can be removed but plan to spend the =
week
    end  with  a  fine  wire hook and use care. Boiling will not get ri=
d of
    this  sand,  so if it's bad it may be time for a new core. And reme=
mber
    airflow.

TIP: Bugs on the rad stop air. Use a rad screen clean it often

To a College Air Conditioning Technology Professor:

Q.  What about air flow and how does it relate to cooling.

A.   Now  you  are  asking the right questions. Air flow is everything.=
 Air
    removes  heat.  Moving  air removes more heat. (Ask us Canadians. M=
inus
    40=B0 can be a pleasant day if there is no wind but at minus 20 wit=
h a 10
    M.P.H. wind, flesh will freeze in 3 minutes.)

Q.  So how does a fan move air in the cooling system of a car?

A.   Very  poorly.  The  designs  were a bit hit and miss - mostly miss=
. We
    would  never  get  away with designs like that in the Air Con trade=
 but
    then  we do not have the space restrictions. Especially older cars =
have
    poor  designs.  Look  at  some of the new cars, where they want to =
save
    weight  by  cutting  back on the rad size. The engineers compensate=
 for
    this by proper shrouding.

    Try  This:  Hold your hand up to your mouth and blow through your f=
ist.
    You  can feel the air with your other hand even 6 to 8 inches away.=
 Now
    suck.  You can not feel the air move until you almost seal your fis=
t up
    tight with your other hand. A car's cooling system is the same. The=
 fan
    sucks,  or  draws, the air through the rad. If you look at your Tig=
er's
    rad  shroud you will see that it is open at the bottom. No seal to =
help
    the  fan  suck the air through the rad. Air does not like to go thr=
ough
    things  -  It  would  rather go around and hence the "reverse" air =
flow
    into the engine compartment. The air is being pulled from under the=
 rad
    and  up through the fan. Shrouding the bottom of the engine compart=
ment
    will  work, to a degree, but it would be much more efficient to bui=
ld a
    proper  rad  shroud,  allowing  the air to be drawn through the rad=
 and
    then exit, out the bottom, as it should.

    An  electric  fan  works because it blows through the rad but to re=
ally
    work  it  should  be  shrouded to about one or two feet in front of=
 the
    rad. Not practical.

Q.  What is the proper shroud then for a drawing fan?

A.   A  proper shroud is one that is sealed up all around the rad. A ru=
bber
    gasket,  between the shroud and the rad, would even help. No leaks.=
 The
    shroud  should  surround  the  fan completely. The fan should be ho=
used
    with  only 2/3 of the blades inside of the shroud. The air must be =
free
    to fly away from the tips of the fan blade. This will give you air =
flow
    at idle or at any speed.

To an Ex Rootes Automotive Engineer:

Q.  Why were automotive cooling systems so poorly designed?

A.  Money. Profit in automotive engineering is gained penny at a time, =
just
    as  you say cooling is achieved one degree at a time. We used to de=
sign
    a  rad  that  would  cool an engine anywhere. Then, when the protot=
ypes
    were  being tested, we cut the rad back until it just worked then a=
dded
    a bit. Every inch of rad core or shroud material saved was more pro=
fit.
    Automotive design is one of cost cutting, not one of engineering de=
sign
    excellence.  If  we  had  managed  to cut the cost of the Tiger coo=
ling
    system by $10 that would have made a profit of $70,000 more during =
it's
    production  run.  The same $10 cut from the Mustang may have been w=
orth
    perhaps $20,000,000 to Ford during the car's production life.

    Remember  the warrantee for most cars back then was 12 months or 12=
,000
    miles.  We  never designed them to last for 200 to 300,000 miles an=
d 25
    years.  Modern cars are different. Longer warrantees necessitate be=
tter
    engineering  and  plastics  now allow you to design a good shroud a=
t no
    more  cost  or  weight than a poor one. It was different when metal=
 and
    hand labor was used for every shroud built.

    We  did  smoke  tests on air flow and when a car is sitting at idle=
 the
    air  is  pulled  through  the rad by the fan, it then hits the pave=
ment
    under  the car and much of it is drawn forward, back up through the=
 rad
    again  thus trying to cool with pre-heated air. Shrouds in front of=
 the
    rad,  at  the  bottom,  did stop this on some cars but I am not sur=
e it
    would work on the Tiger. I can't remember specifically working on t=
hem.

=

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